Cold weather pictures

Here are a couple more of the snow rollers next to the house.  they are gone now.  the wind picked up and blew them over.  It has been so cold.  We feed the birds at the Momma Pickle house also.  

 The big pickle took these pictures.  Momma Pickle thought he did a good job.  It was -9 out
when he took them..  There is a warm up tomorrow to the 20's.

Snow Rollers

We awoke to snow rollers in the front yard.  I never heard of a snow rollers. They are rare.

 Stay warm... hopefully the weather will change soon but not tomorrow.  We are to have a high of 5 degrees

We love the Eastern Shore

So, "Little Pickle" would love it if the rest of the pickle family would live closer to us on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.    It really is a beautiful place that has it all.   We still get all 4 seasons, just not as drastic of a winter as we did in Northwestern PA.  I actually look forward to snow because we don't get that much.    We live about 5-10 minutes away from the Corsica River which we will crab and fish on, as well as the Chesapeake Bay which has great fishing!!  (We still have a freezer full of Rock fish from the summer!).  Also we have a freezer full of venison because deer hunting here is great as well.   We are fortunate enough to own a nice piece of land to hunt on.   

This is a picture of the Kent Narrows that we drive by every day to get the kids.   Just beautiful and often times take for granted the beautiful area we live in.     So we live in farm country, surrounded by farms and fields but in 20-30 minutes we can get to Annapolis which is a beautiful city and great place to visit if you have never been.

(My friend Janice and I in Annapolis)..

So back to Centreville..  We have outlet shopping 5 minutes from our house, can get to Delaware where there is no sales tax in about 30 minutes, and can be at the ocean in an hour and a half.   There really is always something to do and we are within driving distance or a train ride in to DC or Baltimore in an hour.

This is a picture coming up our driveway the other night.   Just picture perfect.  These ponds are usually filled with geese, so as you can imagine goose hunting is huge here on the eastern shore.

This summer we are going to join a program that Maryland State Parks put on for families called Parkquest and with this program you visit as many maryland state parks as you can and do different events at each state park such as geocaching and hikes.    We can't wait to learn more about this state.

So what else can I say to convince the other pickles to move to Maryland...  Ummm the most important piece..   There are 2 cutie pie kids named Gavin and Raegan that really love and miss their family!!!

Kyndra's 1st quilt

Back to work so I didn't blog.  We had a birthday last week for Daughter-in-law Jessica. So Kyndra wanted to make her mom a quilt.  This started over a year ago.  So I thought a dresden plate would be easy for a 11 year old to make.  Well we finished last weekend.  She
did a good job.  She loved going thru my stash and picking out  the fabrics.  she did everything and I supervised very closely.  I only let her work from the back of the longarm
using a workstation template.  She did put squiggly lines and signed the quilt.  

Little Pickle is EXHAUSTED!

I have been so busy lately doing fun family stuff I've been too tired to blog and pass out by 8:30 (just like Papa Pickle!).

This little stinker pickle is one reason why I haven't blogged.   She has moved to the big girl bed, and wants 10 "princess doodle" stories before bed.   So we lay in her bed and tell stories and then Little Pickle gets super duper sleepy!!!   She is also in "potty training" mode so it's about 100 times of "fake out" potty times which gets old!   Lol

We can't wait for Momma and Papa Pickle to come visit us soon!!!   :).   Gonna get the sewing machine back and get back into quilting again!!!   

Also new, is we have joined the Ymca and took the kids swimming there over the weekend.   They loved it!     Hubby and I did some lap swimming first and the kids played in the really cool kid zone there and then when we were done we brought them in the pool with us!   Fun day!!!      Triathalon training has officially begun...

Photography in manual mode

This is alittle post about photography in manual mode and quilting.  I was able after taking a lot of photos to take them in manual mode on my Canon Rebel.  I learned to change my shutter speed, ISO and

aperature.  Now I should have used a tripod though at this shutter speed. 

Now if I can post these pictures so they look as good as on my computer.

I put this heart fabric on the longarm and am going to make alittle wallhanging.

Where is Little pickle??? She sent me a picture of a cute labradoodle and a grandpickle yesterday.  It was a friend’s labradoodle.

future grandparents

Well I have been doing boring things like cleaning closets so I haven’t blogged in a few days.  there is one thing that we are so excited about.  Momma pickle’s brother and sister in law
are going to be grandparents in 2014.    Here is a nice picture of my brother Mark at the deck.
and also Evie my sister in-law holding my grand baby pickle!
I
They were mom’s favorite!!!!! 

Polar Vortex

I do not like polar vortex's.  Last night the wind was howling.  Temperature dropped to -11 and with the wind chill -34.  The house was creaking.  It was brutal.  Well at 9:20pm the electric went out but luckily only for 2 minutes. Today it got up to 1 degree.

So I stayed inside working on some block of the months I haven't finished.  Here is some from the
2013

block of the month.  It is the woman of courage quilt blocks.  Each block is named after
a woman of courage.  What stories.  This is the Helen Keller, Sojourner Truth and Madeleine de Vercheres quilt blocks.
 Well gotta go get warm by the fireplace.  Papa Pickle  makes the best fires in the fireplace.

Little Pickle .. Blogging from the Iphone

I downloaded the Blogger app to my iphone and wanted to try blogging while sitting on the toilet (kidding) slightly...  Being a mother of a 2 year old and 3 year old it's the only peace and quiet I get, and that only lasts about 2 minutes so I gotta make it quick.      It's pretty easy to blog from here, but doesn't seem to be as many options as if I were doing it from the computer .....   Momma Pickle, have Papa Pickle show you how to download the Blogger App to your iPhone.  

On a side note, we recently ordered:  Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child after becoming even more inspired with our Le Creuset cookware and watching the movie Julie and Julia on New Years Eve....   2014 has already started off with some of the best meals I have ever had...   

This weekend we also joined the local YMCA mainly for the use of their pool because Hubby and I are venturing into the world of triathalons this year....    So much to do, so little time!!!!!!   Love our little life!  

circle of life quilt

It got up to 32 degrees today so I went to a quilt class and started a new quilt.  This will take
awhile.  Here is a picture of Gail's. She owns the shop Homespun Treasures.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.  One more day until we get hit by another arctic blast.
Stay warm!
 

Learning Curve with Photography

It is cold and snowy here in Pa.  Time to work with my camera.  So I took 2 pictures of a faux trapunto piece. I took one (really many photos) in auto and manual mode. 

I believe these are both the automatic button on my cannon.
Not sure what I did here

Momma Pickles needs more practice!
Oh look what is in my longarm room.  An exercise trampoline!!

gotta go work out!!

2014... The projects begin...

I have in my mind a couple ideas I would like do to in 2014.   The first project I want to start on with the help of Momma Pickle is a Harley T-shirt Quilt.    We have lots of Harley shirts from when my husbands father passed away in 2006.    Some he wears, but most are stuffed in a dresser.   What better way to show them off than making a t-shirt quilt.

The second project Momma Pickle and I are going to do in February, is take our cameras and spend a weekend in Emlenton, PA where she was raised.   We still visit there a couple times a year, but its always to visit family, and we have never really done a "trip down memory lane" trip.  The goal is to capture as much as we can about our family "through the lens".       We plan on staying at the Foxburg Inn along the Allegheny River.    

This picture is from "the deck" where many family gatherings are held in Emlenton.

So goodbye 2013.  We miss you very much Grammy and Maggie!!!  Looking forward to a new year with exciting and new opportunities!  

Goodbye 2013

Happy New Year!  I am glad 2013 is over.  We lost 2 in the past year.  My mom and our 13 year old beagle Maggie.  Here is a picture of Little Pickle with mom.

Maggie was the best beagle we ever had!

Tearful Goodbye's!!
Miss you!